Setting Things Straight on Nullification

Writing for Hot Air’s Green Room last week, Patrick Ishmael declared that nullification was unconstitutional and cited a number of columns from organizations such as The Heartlander and The Heritage Foundation as proof. Ishmael’s post was mostly a continuation of a discussion, as he calls it, between him and David Roland, of the Freedom Center of Missouri, regarding a bill in the Missouri house to nullify the Affordable Care Act (Obama care). You can view that exchange here.

It appears that Ishmael’s arguments stem either from a poor understanding of history and political science, or serves as a defense of the centralized state. It’s my attempt here to set the record straight on the history of nullification, its uses, and defend the states and the people from the damaging effects of federal overreach and those who would aid it.

In The Heartlander piece Ishmael is quoted by the author and had this to say regarding the Missouri house bill: “This approach is toxic. There are better ways of trying to mitigate the problems inherent in the law than going this route.” In the same piece, Matthew Spalding, who is the vice president of American studies at the Heritage Foundation, says rather than states nullifying unconstitutional laws, they should look to the Supreme Court or throw bums out. If that doesn’t do the trick, then the states should call for a convention.

I’ve already explained why pleading with politically well-connected lawyers is a fool’s errand, and it’s well-established that more bums always replace the last ones thrown out, so these two options are really just dead ends. And his last suggestion, that an Article V convention is somehow going to do the trick, is pure fantasy. As I’ve noted previously, these mythical conventions have never resulted in a single unconstitutional act being repealed, and even on the remote chance one were to be used against the Affordable Care Act, what guarantee do we have that it too won’t be ignored by the gang on Capitol Hill? Remember, the very reason for overturning “Obama care” isn’t just because it’s bad healthcare policy or politically unpopular; it’s a breach of the Tenth Amendment and was passed under dubious circumstances, to boot.

Later in his own post Ishmael writes that “President Andrew Jackson, a staunch and boisterous defender of states’ rights, rejected nullification as a right reserved for the states.” Well of course Andrew Jackson would oppose nullification as president; the states were using it against him! Citing Jackson in such a way during a nullification argument is like saying Al Gore doesn’t support the Electoral College because he lost, therefore it should be abolished. The fact that a politician is restricted by a policy, or that a government finds certain restrictions inconvenient only legitimizes those acts further, because they must be effective at limiting centralized power.

A good way to judge how effective a movement or policy will be is by listening to how loudly the establishment wails over its use. You’ll know you’re on to something important when they tell you that it’s “toxic,” “harmful,” or that history isn’t on your side, as Ishmael does. And you’ll know you’ve struck a nerve when they throw out red herrings like the Supremes or constitutional conventions. Rest assured that whatever the establishment recommends won’t be an effective tool in reversing course.

Spalding explained that nothing in the Constitution allows state legislatures to interfere with federal law, citing the constitution’s supremacy clause. Of course this is true, and advocates of nullification don’t dispute this claim. But we aren’t just discussing a federal law; we’re talking about an unconstitutional law, which is by definition, not a law at all. The supremacy clause, if one happens to read it in full, makes specific reference to federal laws pursuant to the constitution, not just “laws” that power-hungry legislatures pass and servile justices rubber stamp.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Kentucky Resolutions that “whensoever the [federal] government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force…” But you would never have known this by reading Ishmael’s piece, since Jefferson’s contributions are ignored entirely. He gives plenty of attention to James Madison, though and says that Madison didn’t advocate nullification in the Virginia Resolutions. Anyone who’s read them knows this.

The reason Madison’s contribution is significant is because it reinforces the concept of states deciding the constitutionality of laws, which is clearly done in the resolution. Remember, it wasn’t until five years later, in 1803, that Marbury v. Madison established “judicial review,” and further entrenched the Supreme Court’s power. But more important than that is the concept of interposition, which Madison introduces. This is why the two resolutions are described as the principles of 1798, since it was nullification and interposition that were introduced to the American lexicon. Arguing that nullification isn’t lawful because Madison didn’t promote it explicitly in the Virginia Resolutions is not much different than arguing gays in New York aren’t allowed to marry because New Mexico doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage. The resolutions were drafted by separate authors, covered different but related topics, and were passed by independent legislatures.

It should also be noted that James Madison is widely understood among historians to be a flip-flopper, in modern terms. Needless to say it’s always wise to consider this when interpreting his writings.

The Heritage Foundation is at least honest enough to mention Jefferson in its “fact sheet,” but only to try and persuade readers that he “[rejected] nullification.” They admit that his Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 refer specifically to nullification, but point out the version passed by the Kentucky legislature didn’t contain the specific term “nullification,” as if that spirit were absent the final document. They attempt to muddy the waters by conflating the resolutions of 1798 with those of 1799, which were a follow up to the original declaration, and whose author is not conclusively known anyway.

Heritage goes on to suggest that the resolutions of 1799 were nothing more than a “solemn protest,” but that protest included some pretty tough language. To wit: “…the several states […] being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge [the constitution]; and that a nullification, by those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under colour (sic) of that instrument, is the rightful remedy.”

Under the heading of “The Constitutional Path” Heritage draws attention to Madison’s doctrine of interposition, which is a bit ironic, given that such a concept is generally viewed as being more radical than nullification. It’s one thing to refuse to abide a certain act, it’s an entirely different thing to intervene and prevent that act from being carried out. To temper such ideas Heritage defines what activities represent interposition, and they suggest states can “arouse public opposition, challenge federal actions, and ultimately change or stop the objectionable action.”

Get the Documentary Today!

Of course interposition was never defined under those specific terms, and throughout American history states have used interposition in a number of ways. The people of Wisconsin, with assistance from a judge and a sheriff, went so far as to break into the Racine County jail to free a kidnapped former slave and arrest two federal Marshalls and the man who claimed to be his “owner.”

Finally, Ishmael writes that: “There is no ‘secret’ or ‘forgotten’ history here.” And, “There is no provision in the Constitution for states to ‘nullify’ a federal law, and I hope the liberty-minded will decline to try and breathe life into such an interpretation.” Well clearly there is some forgotten history here, unless Ishmael is simply obfuscating the record.

Proponents never claim that state nullification is a power found in the constitution; it’s not. Nullification came about as a response to additional powers not found in the constitution being usurped by the federal government. When the supposed confines of the constitution are abandoned by the feds, it makes little sense for states to worry about what is in the constitution and what is not, since clearly the document has been nullified already. At such a point the states must seek a “rightful remedy;” nullification and interposition are just that.

I would like to ask this question to all anti-nullifiers. Could a state pass a law making it an offense to comply with a federal law? This would mean that the law was nullified since the state made it illegal for any citizen to comply with it.

The author holds an Article V Convention would do no good in his argument for nullification. He states others who hold nullification is unconstitutional are wrong yet he provides no proof where any judge has ever ruled the states have such authority. Obviously therefore for nullification to be constitutional as he urges, it must be by amendment. Given an Article V Convention has had the issue on its agenda since 1832, the oldest such amendment issue in United States history clearly an Article V Convention that favorably found and proposed nullification as an amendment “would do the trick.” Therefore his conclusion is false. Obviously he also chooses to ignore or is not aware of the fact that over 700 applications from 49 states already exist for a convention call. The Constitution mandates a call when 34 states submit 34 applications. Obviously the states do not believe as him, that a convention is a fantasy. Otherwise they would not have submitted the applications. You can read the applications at http://www.foavc.org

@BillWalker Of course a judge has to rule on this, right? Would you take a state judge’s opinion, or does it have to be a federal one? If you say federal, then I ask you why would a member of the federal government give back power usurped by the same? That is like asking the wolf to watch over the sheep pen. No, it is up to the States to reassert their powers.

I’m sure all have read the decisions of the courts at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullification_(U.S._Constitution) so I won’t repeat them here. Suffice to say this: the fact the states have submitted applications for a convention proposal of an amendment pretty much settles the question of whether the matter is constitutional. If it were constitutional for a state to nullify a federal statute on its own authority then some court would have recognized this. None have. Thus the states themselves have recognized an amendment is required. The conclusion is obvious: the authority does not exist meaning the action is currently unconstitutional.

As to the state court ruling such an act is constitutional, that is also illogical. The state court, by the terms of all state constitutions, only is granted power by the state constitution meaning by its own terms it can only address state issues. The issue of nullification is related to federal law and therefore the state constitution does not apply because not even the state constitution allows for any state court to make a ruling in another state let alone in all of them. In effect, nullification asks that a single state court or state have the authority to make a ruling in the rest of the states assigning itself the authority to become a federal government unto itself because that state is demanding it and it alone can determine the validity of a law, not the federal government which is expressly assigned the task.

In sum, it is not asking the wolf about the sheep pen. It is about one of the sheep eating the rest. Oh yeah and by the way in certain cases the federal courts have accepted state arguments that federal law is not applicable in a state and thus declared it unconstitutional. But as the Wiki article points out that is not what nullification advocates mean. They refer to the unilateral authority of a state to declare federal laws void.

@BillWalker You’re still hung up on the whole “no judge has approved it so nullification must not be ok” point. See my follow up post here: http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2012/06/judges-we-dont-need-no-stinking-judges/#more-12826

“In effect, nullification asks that a single state court or state have the authority to make a ruling in the rest of the states assigning itself the authority to become a federal government unto itself….”

No, it doesn’t. When a state legislature nullifies a federal law it’s only for that state. When Kentucky nullified the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 they were the only state to do so, and they never claimed to be nullifying those acts on behalf of say, Georgia or New York.

Your wolf/sheep analogy is wrong also. It’s not about one sheep “eating the rest.” It’s about one sheep refusing to be eaten, even when the others don’t seem to mind being someone’s dinner.

What the hell is the difference between well-connected lawyers and well connected states full of well connected lawyers?

All these arguments are in a corrupt system and the system is the system of Government be it a state or federal Government and this is where all arguments bicker back and forth with no resolve but arguments internal to the system.

States do not decide the constitutionality and either does the federal Government, this choice as well this agreement is purely done by the deciding who are all states which all states are comprised of these deciding.

How many of these fools are not independent deciding themselves always depending on some other fools vision? History has served us very good lessons that there are always those devoted to the King of Rule and authority over which all Governments play in, for not one in any state or of this bad federal government can show without question they have preserved liberty, not one.

I say stop the arguing and stop putting all your energy into a broken system of lies because there are no results to back up or verify any one of them is standing on the side of Liberty, plain and simple. Focus on your own choice skills, what you are as an independent person of choice ability and let us create new agreements without THEM in it. Because this act and only this act is the rightful remedy and is full nullification.

You can argue with the bone heads for the next 200 plus years if you wish but no good has come from such a poor game as that one.

Nullify the acts of Governing bodies and put the deciding back in the drivers seat and deliver to ourselves the Liberty we are and want to be a part of. Otherwise the argument is purely your and it is with you and not with them.

I am not arguing, I am sharing what I have learned through our lessons and its your jobs to understand it and your responsibility to put down the gloves and learn how support ourselves without the bums. That is the true state of independence, above Governments and puts the decisions and the agreements where they belong, in the hands of the rightful owners of freedom. So now the record is straight and narrow and only understanding and good choices remain to be the outcome of such a focus of effort.